Gartlandstown farmer John Fagan, third from left, with some of the RTE team, from left:Helen Carroll, Ella McSweeney, Darragh McCullough, Áine Lawlor and Roz Purcell.

RTÉ broadcasting from Gartlandstown farm all week

TV viewers are going to get a real insider view into life on a farm this week, when RTÉ stages its first ever 'Big Week on the Farm’, a special week-long event featuring nightly broadcasts from John Fagan’s farm at Gartlandstown, on the shores of Lough Derravaragh on the road to Castlepollard.

“If you stand still in my place this week, you’re likely to get power-hosed, painted or polished!” laughs John, revealing that there’s a lot of work going on ahead of the arrival of the celebrity guests, the TV presenters, and the live audiences who will be at his farm each evening for the show.

Celebrities such as country star Nathan Carter, model Roz Purcell, and camogie star Anna Geary are among those taking part in 'Big Week on the Farm’ and each evening, RTÉ’s weather forecast will be broadcast live from the farm, with forecasters Evelyn Cusack, Jean Byrne, Siobhan Ryan and Gerry Murphy lined up to visit.

One of the two large lambing sheds on John’s farm is being converted into a studio, and the audiences will be bused in each evening by RTÉ.

Each day, a celebrity guest will shadow John as he oversees the birth of up to 200 lambs, and there will be a camera operator on hand to capture the day’s activities on film.

Each day at 7pm, from this evening, Monday April 4 to Friday, the programme will broadcast live from the purpose built studio on John’s farm, in front of a live studio audience, and from farms around the country.

“The programme will also look at how you can get the balance between allowing wildlife live naturally while engaging in farming,” says John.

Ella McSweeney, Áine Lawlor Darragh McCullough and Helen Carroll and the celebrity guest presenters will document all that happens that week – from lambing, calving, kidding and hatching, although John stresses that the studio audiences won’t be near any ewes as they give birth. 

Although the lineups may change, as things stand, due to appear on this evening's show as celebrity guests are Kevin Thornton and Evelyn Cusack, while April 5 will see country music superstar Nathan Carter, April 6 will see camogie champ Anna Geary along while April 7 will see food writer and model Roz Purcell.

To give viewers of taste of what they can expect this week, the Late Late Show sent comedian Bernard O'Shea down to Fagan's farm on Friday night to deliver two lambs, footage of which you can see below.